Edge of Apocalypse

Personal log. Stardate 51477.8

I don’t know why I’m recording this.

I never used to worry too much about the future. Now with all the current mess, I look at the holo that Sarah sent me of Danny and Alyssa and I wonder what the galaxy will be like when they grow up. Is a Dominion victory inevitable as that Doctor seemed to think, or do we have a chance of maintaining our way of life? At least they don’t face a future without their father, that’s one good thing.

Add to todo list for tomorrow, record and schedule message for Sarah and ask Ruork for some advice on arranging long-distance transport for…

And that’s another whole issue right there. Last time I saw my father he called me a dirty rotten traitor, among other things. He didn’t exactly approve of the Marquis. Well, technically he didn’t approve of my conduct at the Academy either, but that’s old details at this point.

I’ve been down to sickbay four times in the last two days to see him. Got as far as the door each time. I fear that he may well feel the same way as last time we spoke, if screaming insults can be considered speaking. If I want to trade insults with someone I’ll go harass the Cardassian. However, if he doesn’t feel the same way, is that just because of the uniform, or…..

Stardate 51481.7
Location: USS Agora Sickbay.

“… and when are you going to stop dilly-dallying around the galaxy and make something of your life?” Even with the aftereffects of radiation sickness, Malcolm Carthright still had the presence and bearing he’d cultivated over many years as a colony administrator, though his voice was no where near as strong as it used to be.

“Make something…” Stephan Carthright leaned against the bulkhead, resisting the urge to raise his voice. “What do you think I’m doing here? If I was just drifting around the galaxy for my own amusement I’d hardly be in the middle of a war zone!”

“Knowing you, as little as you can possibly get away with, as you’ve always done. When I was your age I was building up a successful colony and planning a family.”

I know you’re following the news on the war, so I thought I’d send you a message before you start worrying.

Yes, there was an attack on Betazed, the entire system is under Dominion control. Two fleets were sent in to reclaim the system, including the one we’re part of. I think someone under-estimated the Dominion’s resolve, thought they’d pull back if hit hard enough. Didn’t quite turn out that way, the Dominion reinforcements were far faster and stronger than anticipated. The battle to reclaim the system turned into an attempt to evacuate as many as possible.

We were quite some distance away when the invasion started, so we weren’t part of the initial battle, we were tasked with evacuating some people from one of the outer planets. I won’t bore you with the details, it was similar enough to the Salva II evacuation, just more people, more ships and more enemy resistance. We did have one encounter with a couple of Jem Hadar ships on the way in, took a bit of damage, nothing too serious.

It does mean that we’ll be spending a few days at a starbase again. I might be able to call on Danny’s birthday, but I can’t make any promises.

To answer the question you so carefully danced around, yes I did speak with Father while he was on the ship. Eventually. We’re never going to get along well, it’s too late for that, too much water under that bridge. We didn’t end up having a shouting match in the middle of sick bay, so I guess that’s something.

I didn’t tell him about what happened to the rest of the Marquis or about the prison time. I didn’t tell him about being in Starfleet either. I don’t know if he guessed or not, I mean there’s not that many other reasons why I’d be on the ship, but he didn’t say anything.

He insisted on going back to Salva II, nothing I could say would dissuade him. Old fool.

Sarah, promise me one thing. Don’t come back. Not now, not until this is over, it’s not safe in this area. With Betazed under their control, the Dominion can strike at half a dozen core worlds, not just the border.

Take care of yourself. I’ll call when I can.

———————– Recording terminated ————————

Personal log. Stephan Carthright. Stardate 51962.1

————— Text only ———————-

In retrospect, I suspect that was a suicide mission. Well, not exactly, that’s not Starfleet style. More like a mission where the expected probability of success is expressed in single digits. Small ones.

It’s understandable, they’re not going to send their best ships or best crews on such a mission, but did they really have to give us a bunch of kids just out of the Academy? This was Ensign Slayton’s first combat mission. He’s still having nightmares.

To be honest, he’s not the only one.

I keep thinking back over that battle, if battle is the right word for it, was there anything we could have done differently. It all went down so incredibly fast, one moment everything was fine the next every alarm on the ship was blaring. I’m sure I saw stars for a second just as the transporter activated, literally, where the port bulkhead should have been.

That Vorta had better be worth all of this. Otherwise I’m throwing him out of an airlock myself.

So far it’s been a month since we left Doza. The less said about the trip, the better. Whose idea was it to dig up an old 20th Century saga called “Lost in Space” anyway?

Current estimates are another two weeks back to the wormhole, and that’s assuming we don’t have any technical problems. I’m going to strangle Hagen well before that.